Method of making sulfuric acid.



H. PETERSEN. METHOD or MAKING, SULFURIG AOID.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1908.

Patented Jan.5, 1909.

2 SHEETB-JHEBT 1.

H. PETERSEN.

METHOD OF. MAKING SULFUBIG ACID. APPLICATION rum) ulna, 1908.

908,696. Patented Jan.5, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

increasing the amount of oxids of nitro en,

HUGO PETEBfiEN, OF-WILMERSDORF, NEAR BERLIN, GERMANY.

mzrnon hr ammo surname sen).

No. masses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

resented Jan. 5, 1909.

Application filed. January 3, 1908. Serial No. 409,285.

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known t at I, Huoo PETERSEN, a chemical engineer and a subject of the German Emperor, a resident of 181 Kaiser- Alle, in the city of Wilmersdorf,near Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire, have invented a certain new and usetul Method of Making Sulfuric Acid, of which the following is a-specification.

This invention has reference to means for circulated in a lead chamber system for making sulfuric acid, in proportion to the amount of sulfur dioxid gases which are to be submitted to the lead chamber treatment.

According to my. invention, an indefinite amount of oxicls of nitrogen can be kept in circulation in the system, irrespective of the amount of sulfur dioxid gases to be treated, and without interfering in the least with the strength or with the denitration of the nitrous vitriol, treated in the Glover towers of the system, by'submitting the gases to two difierent Glover-treatments and Gay-Lussac treatments, separate from each other, these treatments being distinguished by the fact, that, while in one of them the usual concentrated sulfuric acid of, say sixty degrees Baum, strength is used in the Gay-Lussac towers, resulting in a nitrousvitriol of correspondingly high strength, the other treatment is carried on by making use of sulfuric acid of lower strength, of say about 54s to 57 degrees Baum, in the Gay-Lussac towers, resulting in the production of correspondingly weaker nitrousvitriol. These two treatments with strong and weak acids are kept separate from each other, so that the weak nitrous vitriol, obtained by Gay-Lussac treatment with the above mentioned weak acid is kept separate from the nitrous vitriol, obtained by treatment of the gases with the ordinary strong acid. The sulfur dioxid gases are treated in succession either first with the weak nitrous vitriol, and then with the strong nitrous vitriol in a system of Glover towers, and, after having passed through the lead chambers, first with strong. and then with weak Glover sulfuric acid, as obtained in the respective Glover towers, or the gases may first be made to act upon the stronger. and then upon theweaker nitrous vitriol, the Gay-Lussac treatment being also correspondingly reversed. Weak sulfuric acid of about 54 tox57f degrees Baum, pas

sesses the rop'erty of readily absorbing the lower oxi s of: nitrogen, and of liberating the same again at comparatively low t'ein' pera-turea'a'nd without the necessity of any further dilution of this acid, while ordinary rinsing sulfuric acid, having a strength of about 60 degrees Baurn, parts with the oxids of nitrogen absorbed. only by the application off a very high temperature or by dilution with steam or water. It is obvious therefore, that by carrying out the sulfuric acid making process in two different stages of the Glover treatment and Gay-Lussac treatment, and in one and the same lead chamber system, any dilute acid, obtained by den-i tration of nitrous vitriol, can be utilized over again as such for purposes of absorption of oxids of nitrogen without the necessity of concentration and without interfering in the least with the concentration of the strong acids, used in the system.

In view of the fact, that denitrationis most readily effected by heat even without strong dilution of the nitrous vitriol, the acid passing oif from the Glover towers immediatel'y succeeding the burners will be very completely denitrated in: the majority of cases, even when strong nitrous vitriol is used in this part of the plant, and the gases, passing from this first Glover tower or system of Glover towers, are still sufficiently hot to effect denitration in the second part of the Glover system, where either di lute nitrous vitriol" of 54 to 57 degrees Ban-me is used, or the nitrousvitriol is diluted' by the water vapors escaping from the first system of Glover towers, in case these towers have been rinsed with weaker nitrous vitriol, and in accordance therewith, even much increased b the treatment, herein I described, inasmuc as it is thereby possible,

to increase the amount of nitric acidor of n'iter, fed to the system, and the amount'of oxids of nitrogen in consequence thereof, very much out of -PI'OPOI'L1OI1 to the amount of sulfur dioxid gases under treatment, and

- which one chamber 0 is shown, though a greater number of chambers may of course also-be used. From the chamber the gases pass to thebottom of the first Gay-Lussac towertb and then into'the last Gay-Lussac tower b. In, the succeeding figures of. the drawing the figures or numbers indicated at the tops and bottoms of the towers show the degrees Baum in strength of the'acid admitted or running out at these, points. In all the Figs. 2 to 5 the course of. the gases has been indicated by pipes of broader diameter, while the courses of the liquids have been indicated by pipes of narrower diameter.

" The coursesof the gases are all identical in the variousfigures and agree with the diagram of Fig. l of the drawing;

m in all the figures indicate acid eggs, force pumps or the like for lifting the various liquids to the tops of the towers and 'Gay-Lussac tower b by means 0 The nitrous vitriolobtained is passed back the like. In the diagram Fig. 2 the strong Glover acid is pumped to the top of the last the pipe d.

through the pipe e to the top of the first Glover tower a. The circulation from the second Glover tower a which is separate from the circulation just described, takes place as follows: from the second Glover tower a at about 55 degrees Baum by way of the pipe f to the .top of the first Gay- Lussac' tower Z), the nitrous vitriol from this tower being passed back through the pipe 9 to the top of the second Glover tower a. In the modification'Fig. 3 of the drawing two chambers sand 0, are used and the second Glover tower is placed between the chambers, the circulation being otherwise the same as that outlined with reference to Fig. 2 of the drawing. In Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 the uniting of the two circulations into one circulation is illustrated. In the modification of Fig. 4 strong Glover acid or strong nitrous vitriol of about degrees Baum maybe fed to the top of the second Glover tower a, where it becomes diluted by the vapors from the first Glover tower and is then passed through the pipe t'to the top of the last Gay-Lussac tower b, the nitrous vitriol here obtained being then passed through the pipe 7L and to the top of the first Glover tower a, where it becomes denitrated and concentrated, the resulting Glover acid being passed by way of the pipe h to the top of the first Gay-Lussac tower b, and the nitrous vitriol thus obtained passes through the pipe is to the top of the second Glover tower at. In the modification of Fig. 5 the circulation may also be started by way of the second Glover tower a, the weak Glover acid passing through the pipe to the top of the first Gay-Lussac tower b the nitrousvitriol thereby produced being pumped through the'pipe '8' to the top of the first Glover tower a where the acid is denit'rated and concentrated and passes at a strength of about (30 degrees Baum through the p1pe n to the top of the second Gay-Lussac tower, the resulting nitrous vitriol being pumped by way of the pipe 1' to the top of the second Glover tower. By working in thisv manner, though there is but one continuous circulation of rinsing acids through the entire sulfuric acid making plant, yet, the two systems of Glover treatment and Gay-Lussac treatment with weak and with strong acids respectively are kept entirely separate from each other, the strengths of the difi'erentacids of the systems being maintained ina perfectly automatic manner.

The Glover tower or towers which are rinsed with weaker nitrous. vitriol, can be arranged at anyplace, wherever there is an opportunity of sulfur dioxid gases getting into said tower or towers; thus, they may be placed between the chambers, as shown forinstance in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

With the method of working herein described, it is of course also possible to obtain sulfuric acid for the market from the Glover tower, as usual in" sulfuric acid making plants, this marketable acid in most cases showing a strength of about 54 to 57 degrees Baum; there being still a sufiicient excess of such acid left in all cases for feeding the corresponding systems of Gay-Lussac towers. As shown in the accompanying diagrams, .the rinsing of the entire plant may be started by feeding 60 degrees Baum, sulfuric. acid or sixty degrees Banm nitrous vitriol to any partof the Glover or Gay- Lussac systems, the evaporation effected by the hot sulfur dioxid gases furnishing the necessary water 'of dilution, to produce lower degree acid for the rinsing of one of the systems. Inasmuch as weak nitrous vitriol andweak Glover acid of the strength referred to absorb sulfur dioxid gases much more readily than the ordinary strong acids and strong nitrous vitr ol, the amount of sulfuric acid, formed in the Glover systemby forming two difi'erent supplies or Glover acid, submitting the escaping. gases to lead chamber action, treating and absorbing the escaping gases which then contain oxide of nitrogen, in two separate steps with the two previously obtained Glover acids, thereby producing two separate supplies of nitrous vitriol and separately treating a new supply of sulfurous acid gases with each of said two supplies of nitrous vitriol.

z. 'lhe herein described method of manufacturing sulfuric acid by the lead chamber process, which consists in generating sulfurous acid gases, passing said gases in contact with a supply of strong nitrous vitriol and with a supply of weaker nitrous vitriol, thereby denitrating said supplies of nitrous vitriol and forming supplies of Glover acid of different strengths, submitting the result ing gases to lead chamber action, treating the escaping gases which then contain nitrogen oxids with the strong Glover acid, previously obtained, and separate therefrom in contact with the weaker Glover acid, pre viously obtained, thereby absorbing said oxids of nitrogen and forming a strong and a weak nitrous vitriol, and passing a new supply of sulfurous acid gas in contact with each of said supplies of nitrous vitriol.

3. The herein described method of manufacturing sulfuric acid by the lead chamber process, which consists in generating sulfurous acid gases, treating said gases with a supply or strong nitrous vitriol and separately with a supply of Weak nitrous vitriol, thereby denitrating said nitrous vitriol and forming two difi'erent supplies of Glover acid, submittingthe, resulting gases to lead chamber treatment, and treating the escaping gases which then contain nitrogen oxide,

with the previously obtained supplies of Glover acids of diii'erent strengths in separate stages, increasing the strength of the weaker nitrous vitriol, obtained in one of said stages by treating. said Weaker nitrous vitriol with a fresh supply of sulfurous acid gases, and treating the resulting stronger Glover acid with gases containing oxids of nitrogen.

4. 'lhe improvement in the art of making sulfuric acid by the lead chamber process, which consists in passing sulfur dioxid gases in two separate stages in contact with nitrous vitriol of about 60 degrees and of about 57 degrees B. respectively, then ub mitting the gases to the lead chamber treatment, and finally passing the escaping gases which contain oxids of nitrogen in contact with two different supplies of sulfuric acid of about 60 degrees Be. and of about 57 degrees B. respectively to absorb the oxids of nitrogen.

5. Lbs improvement in the art of naking sulfuric acid by the lead chamber process, which improvement consists in passing sulfur dioxid gases in succession in contact with two supplies of nitrous vitriol of different strengths, submitting the gases to lead chamher treatment, and passing the escaping gases which contain oxids of nitrogen in contact with two difierent supplies of Glover sulfuric acid of difierent strengths.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

HUGO PETERSEN.

Witnesses:

Hen RY HASPER, Nonnnnan Haorr. 

